Proposals for New or Revised
Merit Badges
or other
Advancement Requirements Changes

We've been asked on a number of occasions, questions like the following:

Does anyone know what the procedure is for suggesting
a new merit badge?

A friend of mine thinks that offering
a merit badge on _______ would be of interest to Scouts.
But he doesn't know what to do with the idea.
He has some ideas as to what some of the requirements should be.

We've also been asked questions like:

I think the requirements for the ___________ merit
badge or ______ rank should be changed.
Who do I complain to, or where can I may a recommendation for a change?

The answer to the questions above is very basic. A written request
should be sent to the BSA Advancement Team, with general information
about suggested requirements for the merit badge, or the suggested
change.

You shouldn't expect a speedy reply.
BSA receives more than 400 merit badge suggestions each year,
and they typically don't act upon any of them for at least a year or two. The
staff goes through the merit badge suggestions
and recommends merit badges they feel appropriate;
once the concept is approved, it goes to the Editorial Service to coordinate and compose
the actual merit badge requirements and pamphlet contents, usually in
conjunction with an outside organization appropriate to the subject.
The entire process can take about three to five years. On the other hand, if
there are a lot of Scouts and Scouters that feel that this deserves a chance
(by writing to National in support of the new merit badge) the process can
go a little faster. Hope this helps out!

The former Director of Boy Scout Advancement once gave these
criteria for new merit badges:

The new MBs need to promote a hobby or career interest and promote
the aims of Scouting.

When submitting an idea, you need to include the rationale behind
the idea, as well as potential sample requirements for the badge.

Nearly all of the ideas for new badges are turned down for one reason
or another, very few get tabled for consideration. Among the main reasons
for this.

It takes around $75,000 or more to introduce a new MB due to
creating the badges themselves, printing of pamphlets, and updating
and printing of the Requirement book.

As of June 1, 2015, there were 136 merit badges, including
two released in the first five months of 2015 (Signs, Signals,
and Codes and Animation). Prior to 2010, the total had
remained fairly consistent for nearly 30 years, ranging since
1983 from a low of 115 to a high of 124.
Here's a table showing the total number of merit badges and how many
were added, dropped, or renamed over the years since 1982.
Note that in many cases, the new merit badges were actually
first available at some point during the year PRIOR to when the
requirements first appeared in the Boy Scout
Requirements booklet.:

As Listed in the
Boy Scout Requirements Booklet

Added

Dropped

Renamed

Total

9/1/1982 - 8/31/1984

1

119

9/1/1984 - 8/31/1985

119

9/1/1985 - 8/31/1987

1

119

9/1/1987 - 8/31/1989

6

5

2

120

9/1/1989 - 8/31/1991

1

121

9/1/1991 - 8/31/1993

4

1

124

9/1/1993 - 8/31/1995

1

123

9/1/1995 - 8/31/1996

8

2

115

9/1/1996 - 12/31/1997

1

116

1998

3

119

1999

1

1

119

2000

119

2001

119

2002

119

2003

1

120

2004

120

2005

1

120

2006

1

121

2007

121

2008

1

121

2009

1

121

2010

5

1

126

2011

3

4

125

2012

3

128

2013

2

130

2014

5

1

134

2015

2

1

136

Changes, of course, don't require as complicated a process, but it still
can take years for a change to be approved.

For any advancement change, the request should be sent to the
Advancement Team, at the BSA's National Office.
The address is:

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